World Bulletin / News Desk 

France said on Wednesday that Kuwait wants to buy 24 Airbus-built Caracal military helicopters and that the contract would be signed soon.

The contract - the latest to be agreed between Paris and a Gulf Arab state, comes weeks after Dassault finalised a deal to sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to Qatar.

"In the framework of the defence partnership between France and Kuwait, the Emir has expressed the wish ... to equip his country's air force with 24 Caracal type helicopters. The contract will be signed soon," President Francois Hollande's office said after a telephone conversation between Hollande and Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah.